According to the Red List of European Butterflies (IUCN 2010), 31% of the species have declining populations. The main causes are habitat loss or loss of connectivity between habitats, as a result of changes in agricultural practices, for both the intensification and for abandonment. Important threats are also represented by climate change and by the uncontrolled development of tourism.

In Italy there are 16 species listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), whose purpose is to protect the natural and semi-natural habitats of Community interest.

Many endangered species have narrow ecological requirements, a reflection of their genetic diversity in many cases not yet sufficiently known: filling this knowledge is the fundamental starting point for implementing an effective plan of conservation.